Dlesex



I 2 sheets sheet 1.

(No Model.)

G. A MAGBETH.

VENDING APPARATUS- No. 364,028 Patented May 31,1887.-

- (No Model.) i z'sneet-sheet 2..

"e. A. MAGBETH. A

VENDING APPARATUS.

No. 364,028. Patented May 31, 1887;

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UNITED STATES PATENT Orricn.

GEORGE ANDREiV MAGBETH, OF GLENISLA EALING, COUNTY OF MID- DLESEX,ENGLAND. I

VENDING APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 364,028, dated May 31,1887.

Application filed December 30, 1886. Serial No. 222,!l6l. (No model.)

.To aZZ whom it may concern: 1

Be it known that I, GEORGE ANDREW MAO- BETH, at present residing atGlenisla Ealing, in the county of Middlesex, England, outfitter, haveinvented new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for the Delivery ofPrepaid Goods, of which the following is a full,- clear,

and exact description.

My invention relates to apparatus for automatically retailing ordelivering articles or goodsin exchange for coin, the said apparatuscomprising a rotating magazine or multiple hopper containing a supply ofthe goods, a delivery drawer or slide by which the articles arewithdrawn singly from a, hopper of the magazine, and mechanism forlocking the delivery drawer or slide each time it is pushed in orclosed, and for releasing the drawer on the introduction of a coin ofthe proper denomination to enable the goods to be delivered.

The object of my invention is to simplify the construction of suchapparatus and to provide means for preventing the fraudulent abstractionof the goods either by the introduction of a coin other than one of theproper value, or by continuing to operate the mechanism after thearticle for which payment has been made has been delivered to thepurchaser.

By the employment of a rotating magazine or multiple hopper, as hereindescribed, any one of the. hoppers may be brought into position fordelivery, and consequently if goods of different kinds be placed in thedifferent hoppers a variety of goods may be delivered by the sameapparatus at the option of the purchaser, and when one compartment orhopper of the magazine is empty another may b brought into position fordelivery.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part ofthis'specification, wherein- Figure 1 is a perspective view (partlybroken away to show the interior) of the automatic delivery apparatus.Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on line 1 1, Fig. 1, drawn to a largerscale. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the drawer or slide and itslocking and releasing mechanism, the magazine and its case beingremoved. Fig. 4 is a vertical section on line 2 2, Fig. 5, through thetube in which the reall the hoppers.

per, immediately above the bottom thereof, is

withdrawn at a time.

The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all thefigures.

The magazine containing the supply of goods consists of a rotating drumcomposed of an assemblage of vertical tubes or hoppers, A, rotating on avertical axis, B, within the upper part of the casing of the apparatus,the axis being mounted in a hearing at the top of the casing and in astep-bracket at the lower end.

The hoppers or tubes A are of aform (usually rectangular incross-section) corresponding to the form and size of the packets inwhich the goods are made up for delivery.

O O is the delivery-drawer, fitted to slide in and out of the casingimmediately beneath the magazine, the drawer being slotted, as showninFig. 3, to permit of the magazine-axis passing through the drawerwithout interfering with the sliding motion of the latter.

The hoppers or compartments of the magazine are arranged around theaxis, as shown in Figs. 2 and 5, the one from which it is desired towithdraw an article being situated for the time being immediately overthe delivery part Got the drawer or slide. Each hopper or compartmenthasa through radial slot in the bottom from front to back, the slotopening at the inner end into a circular cavity, a, about the axis B,and common to the slots of In the front side of the hopan aperture, a,of the full width of the hopper, and of such a height as to permit ofthe lowermost only of the pile of articles (which are superposed withinthe hopper in the manner of tickets in ticket delivery apparatus) beingThis withdrawal is effected by means of a lug or finger, 0, project ingfrom the upper surface of the drawer O and sliding in the slot abovementioned, the

range of motion of the drawer 0 being so limited in the forward oroutward direction that the lug a will not pass beyond the position shownin dotted lines in Fig. 7, so that it never, passes from beneath thepile of goods in the forward direction. The cavity a is formed in thebottom of the center part or boss,by which the hoppers are carried,and'the front face of the lug c is curved to correspond to the peripheryof the cavity. 7 In the rear or innermost wall of each hopper is acentral vertical slot, a, extending the whole height of the hopper, 1nwhich slides a filling piece or rib, d, carried by a weighted follower,D, which presses on the pile of goods in the hopper, the filling-piece dbeing curved on its face to correspond with the periphery of the cavitya, so that when a hopper is empty the weight will be at the bottom, andthe piece d will fill up the lower end of theopening a and complete thewall of the cavity at that part, so as to prevent the lug c entering theslot in the bottom of the hopper. The magazine must then be rotated bymeans of the mechanism hereinafter described, in order to bring a fullhopper into position for the deliveryof its contents. l

The rotation of the magazine is effected by means of a pinion, b, fixedto the lower end of the axis B, and a rack, b, gearing therewith andsliding along guides b, fixed transversely within the lower part of thecasing and operated by a thumb-knob, b passing through a slot in thefront of the casing, and provided with a pointer, showing on an adjacentscale when each particular hopper of the magazine lsin position fordelivery. By means of this mechanism any one of the hoppers may (at anytime while the delivery draweror slide is in its locked position) bebrought by the purchaser into position for delivery,the nature of thecontents of the different hoppers being indicated at the differentpoints of the scale with which, when the hoppers are respectively inposition for delivery, the index coincides.

In the front of the casing is an aperture to which the deliveryaperturesa of the hoppers come opposite, this aperture corresponding in size tothe apertures a, and being closed when the draweris pushed inward by aflange, c, at the front end of the drawer or slide. Immediatelyabovethisaperture there is, in the front of the casing, a glazed window, e,through which is visible a label, cf, on the front of the hopper,denoting the nature of its contents, said label occupying the upper halfof the window and being immediately above an aperture in the front ofthe hopper, at which the word Empty, carried by the weighted follower D,above mentioned, appears when the follower has descended to the bottomin consequence of that particular tube or hopper of the magazine beingexhausted, so that an intending purchaser may know that it is necessaryto rotate the magazine, so as to bring another hopper or tube intoposition for delivery before a further delivery can be made. 7

The delivery drawer or slide is constructed of an upper portion, 0,which slides through the front of the casing, and a lower portion,

C, which slides between guides f, fixed to a horizontal division, F, ofthe casing, and also through a transverse vertical division, F Thisportion of the slide is also slotted longitudinally to permit of thepassage of the magazine-axis B, and the drawer has a constant tendencyto be forced outward by the tension of a strong spiral spring, 0,attached at one end to a fixed point and at the other to a hook attachedto the under side of the slide 0' and working in a slot in partition F.

The locking mechanism by which the drawer or slide is held closedconsists of a locking-lever, G, at right angles to the line of motion ofthe drawer, said lever being pivoted at g in a bracket fixed to thepartition F. The one end of this lever carries an anti-friction roller,9', which plays in a slot, h, formed in a bracket, H, fixed on the slide0, and coinciding in direction with the line of motion thereof. Thisslot is curved downward at its front end to form a notch, h, in whichthe end of the lever will engage in such manner as to act as a stop tolock the drawer or slide in the closed posi-' tion, as hereinafterdescribed. ,The slot is curved at this point to the arc of a circle ofabout sixty degrees, so as to present the work ing faces of the slot atsuch an angle as to tend to cause the lever to engage in the notch onthe completion of the inward movement of the drawer, and to lift it outtherefrom on the commencement of the outward motion of the drawer. Thisdisengagement of the lever from the downwardly-curved portion h of theslot is, however, prevented by an anti-friction roller, 9, at its otherend bearing upon a bracket, 2', projecting from the side of an innertube, I, through a slot, j, in an outer fixed tube, J, in which the tubeI is fitted to slide. The drawer 0 cannot therefore slide out for thepurpose of delivering an article from the hopper until the stop a isremoved from beneath the roller at the end of the lever G, so as topermit of the roller 9 at its other end rising into the horizontalportion of the slot h. Immediately, however, this stop i is withdrawnthe lever G is oscillated,and the drawer is shot out rapidly by theaction of the spring 0, the finger e pushing out the lowermost packet ofgoods contained in the hopper, which is at that moment situated abovethe drawer C, the same being thereby delivered to the purchaser throughthe aperture in the front of the casing and on the fore partof thedrawer, as represented in Fig. 7. This withdrawal of the stop t iseffected by a pushpiece, K, acting on the end of the tube I through theintervention of a coin, Z, placed between the push-piece K and the tubeI in such position as to close the end of the tube, which corresponds indiameter to the diameter of the coin, which bears against aninwardly-projecting flange or lip, i, on the end of the tube andextending around the upper half only of the circumference of the 7 tube.The push-piece enters the tube freely and without acting on it when thecoin is absent. The push-piece K slides through and is a spiral spring,L, forcing the tube I outward.

- and so carrying the bracketi again under the end 9* of theleverGimmediately the deliverydrawer has been pushed in. The levercannot become relocked by the bracket z until its other end has engagedin the notch h. as the two ends of the lever cannot rest at the sametime on the two respective planes formed by the lower face of sloth andthe face of bracket '5.

The coin is dropped into operative position in front of the push-piece Kthrough a slot 2, in the top of the lower part of the casing, theconducting-channel for the coin being formed immediately beneath saidaperture in the rear side of the partition F.

The tube J extends forward at the lower side slightly in front of thetube I, (whose motion is limited by the bracket 2,) so as to form aresting-place, j, to support the coin in position between the push-pieceand the tube I. The tube Jhas an opening, J, immediatelyin rear of thisledge j of asize to allow the coin to fall through when released by thereturncor outward motion of the push-piece, and the inner tube, I, isentirely cut away to the extent of the lower half of its circumferenceat the front end, as shown, so that should a coin of less than theproper size be inserted it will be pushed off the ledge j and fail toact on the tube I. All coins fall through an aperture,f, in thepartition F down a chute into a receptacle, M, in the lower part of theapparatus. On its way to the receptacle M the coin is arrested oppositea glazed aperture, N, at which the coin remains visible until theapparatus is again operated, the object being to enable bystanders todetectany attempt to use-dummy-coius.

The coin is removed from the window and transferred to the receptacle Mby a finger, '5 carried by the tube I, which pushes the coin off theledge by which it was arrested at the next time the apparatus isoperated. i is a shutter, working across the entrance for the coin andcarried by a forked arm or yoke fixed toih-e upper side of the tube Iand working through a slot in the tube J, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.This shutter closes the entrance for the coin, so long as the tube I hasnot returned to its forward or looking position, so that a second coincannot be introduced until the apparatus is reset for another deliveryby the action of closing the drawer. f To prevent a second delivery ofgoods by the drawer O for a single operation of the unlocking mechanism,checking devices 0 and P are provided to prevent the partial inward andoutward motion of the drawer. The lever O, pivoted at o, presses by oneend against a cam, k, on the push-piece, and its other and heavier end,0, is lowered (so long as the push piece K is not allowed to comeforward) into the path of a stepped rack, 0 on the side of the slide 0',whereby inward motion of the slide or drawer is prevented, except whenthe push-piece is at the outer end of its stroke. The latch-lever P,pivoted at p, drops into the path of a stepped rack, 19, fixed on theslide 0; but when the slide Ois pushed quite in, the latch-lever P comesin front of a pivoted switch, 19 up the inclined surface of which theend of the lever rides on the next forward motion of the slide ordrawer, whereby the lever is carried clear of the rack. On the nextinward motion of the slide the lever passes beneath the switch p inposition to engage with the rack and prevent any outward motion of thedrawer before its inward motion is completed. The door Q atthe back ofthe casing permits of the partition F and the mechanism carried therebybeing withdrawn in case of need.

It is a circular flange fixed on the partition 7 that separates thelower from the upper part of the casing within which the magazinerotates, said flange coming opposite the deliveryapertures at the lowerends of the hoppers,

and preventing the contents flying partially out therefrom bycentrifugal action, should the magazine be very rapidly rotated, theflange and then pushes in the push-piece K, thereby" forcing back theinner tube, 1, through the intervention of the coin, whereby the lever Gis unlocked and the drawer O instantaneously released and automaticallyforced forward,

carrying with itone of the packets from out of the hopper above. Thepush'piece must then be released (thus allowing the coin to fall intoits receptacle) before the drawer can be pushed in, and the drawer mustbe closed and the whole mechanism reset before another delivery can beeffected either from the same ora different hopper of the magazine.Should an intending purchaser. find the drawer G in any position but thelocked position, he will be unable to drop a coin in the slit 2 onaccount of the shutter '6 closing it; consequently he must push thedrawer right in before he can purchase.

Having now particularly described and as certained the nature of thesaid invention, and in what mannerthe same is to be performed, I declarethat what I claim is- 1. In an automatic delivery apparatus, a revolublemagazine for the goods to be delivered, consisting of vertical tubes orhoppers mounted on a vertical axis, in combination voluble magazine forthe goods to be delivwith a single spring-actuated delivery slide orwith pinion b, rack b, and index knob or fin-- ger I)", for bringing anyone of the tubes or hoppers into position for delivery, and with asinglespring-actuated delivery slide or drawer,

provided with a finger or lug working in a slot in the lower end of thehopper, and received when the magazine is being rotated in a centralcavity in the rear of the hoppers, as described.

3. In an automatic delivery apparatus, the combination of a revolublemagazine or multiple hopper, a delivery drawer or slide working beneaththe magazine and engaging byits lug or finger in the bottom of one ofthe tubes or hoppers, as described, and a weighted follower in each ofthe tubes or hoppers, acting as astop to prevent the outward motion ofthe delivery drawer or slide when the mechanism is unlocked and thatparticular tube or hopper which is in position for deliveryis empty.

4. In an automatic delivery apparatus, the combination, with therevoluble magazine or multiple hopper and delivery drawer or slideengaging by a lug or finger in the bottom of one of the tubes orhoppers, as herein described, of locking mechanism consisting of arocking lever at right angles to the direction of motion of the drawer,said lever engaging by one end in alongitudinal slot on the slide, saidslot having a curved or angular portion forming a notch at its forwardend, and by its other end with a movable stop so situated as to engagewith and lock the lever when its other end is engaged in the notchaforesaid, as specified.

5. In an automatic delivery apparatus, the combination, with therevoluble magazine, the delivery drawer or slide working beneath themagazine and withdrawing goods therefrom, as described, the rockinglever engaging by one end in a longitudinal slot carried by the slide,and having a curved or angular notch at its front end, a movable stopengaging with and locking the lever, as specified, and springs tendingconstantly, the one to force out the drawer or slide, and the other tomove the stop into operative engagement with the locking-lever,substantially as specified.

6. In automatic delivery apparatus, the combination of a springactuateddelivery slide or drawer, a spring-actuated locking niechau ism engagingwith the slide or drawer, as described, releasing mechanismconsisting'of a slidingtube carrying thelocking-stop,thelockingmechanism having at its front end an abutment for a coin, a slidingspring push-piece in alignment with the open end of the sliding tube,and a transverse channel and restingplace for the coin,the push-piecebeing adapted to force the tube inward when the end of the tube isclosed bya coin of the proper size intervening between the tube and thepushpiece, as described, and being free to enter the tube withoutoperating it when no coin of the proper size intervenes between them.

7. In automatic delivery apparatus, a springactuated delivery slide ordrawer, springactuated locking mechanism engaging with the slide ordrawer, as described, releasing mechanism acting on the lockingineehanism, as described, and consisting of a sliding spring-actuatedtube constructed as described, sliding push-piece adapted to act on saidtube through an intervening coin, as herein described, combined with thedrawer and pushlatter, and engaging with a step-rack on the former insuch manner as to prevent inward motion of the drawer while thepush-piece is pressed in, for the purpose specified.

8. In automatic delivery apparatus comprising a delivery slide ordrawer,locking and releasing mechanism, as herein described, the

a checlrlever, p, mounted at one side of the drawer and at right anglesto the direction of motion thereof, a rack, p, fixed on the slide, and aswitch-piece, p, pivoted on the slide and occupying such position withregard to the rack that the lever will pass up the switch, and bethereby carried clear of the rack when the slide is drawn outward fromits extreme inward position, but will pass under the switch in positionto engage with the rack while the slide is being pushed in, so that thedrawer will-be prevented by the rack from being pulled out again beforeits inward motion is completed, substantially as described.

The foregoing specification of my improvements in apparatus for thedelivery of prepaid goods signed by me this 1st day of December, 1886.

GEORGE ANDREW MACBETH.

\Vitnesses:

WVALTER J. SKERTEN, 17Gracechurch Street, London, E. Q.

B. E. KNIGHT,

I 53 Chancery Lane, London.

piece, acheck-lever acted on by a cam on the.

combination, with the said drawer or slide, of

